MMSD plans sharp jump in capital spending in 2020

The wastewater treatment system at Veolia Water Milwaukee, contracted by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, rests on Jones Island in Milwaukee on Monday, June 3, 2019.(Photo: Mike De Sisti and Jim Nelson/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is proposing increased spending in 2020 for services that range from wastewater treatment to flood control and the production of Milorganite fertilizer.

The district, which manages the region’s sanitary system for 1.1 million people, is proposing a large increase in capital spending next year and will use borrowing to reduce the effect on property taxpayers.

In Milwaukee County, for the owner of a $200,000 home, the property tax bill is expected to cost $329.15 — up $5.66, or 1.75%, over this year.

A separate user charge, on average, adds another $145.45. That would increase $5.23, or 3.7%, from 2019.

In all, district officials estimate that the owner of a $200,000 home will pay an additional $10.89, or 2.3% more than this year, for a total of $474.60.

The 10 communities served by the district outside the county are expected to make smaller payments next year. They will pay a total of $28.4 million, or a drop of 5.7%, in part, because they are not required to pay for flood control spending that does not benefit their communities.

The 11-member sewerage commission is scheduled to vote on next year’s budget in October and the district will hold public hearings at 6 p.m. Sept. 23 and 8:30 a.m. Oct. 14 at district headquarters, 260 W. Seeboth St.

Total spending from operations and capital projects is up 10.1%, to $338.2 million, according to budget figures.

The district will pay Veolia Water Milwaukee $51.4 million to run its facilities, according to budget figures.

2016: Pedestrians watch the raging waters in the Kinnickinnic River nearly reach the bridge at West Harrison Avenue and South 13th Street on Aug. 30, 2016. A flash flood caused problems that day across the Milwaukee area.(Photo: Rick Wood/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

A big chunk of the increase is due to nearly $25 million in capital spending, with projects that include:

Sewer upgrades; infrastructure improvements at the district’s two wastewater treatment plants — Jones Island and South Shore; continued flood control work on the Kinnickinnic River and elsewhere; and design work to return an aging navigation channel in the Menomonee Valley, the Burnham Canal, back to a wetland.

“A lot of the equipment in our plants were built during the water pollution abatement program in the ‘80s and ‘90s," said Bill Graffin, spokesman for the district. “Some of it is reaching the end of its useful life.”

Mickie Pearsall, treasurer and finance director, said the district’s capital spending ebbs and flows by year depending on infrastructure needs that are planned over a running six-year cycle.

In years when capital spending spikes, Pearsall said the district increases borrowing to avoid big swings in property taxes.

For 2020, the largest sources of revenue are property taxes ($101.9 million), user charges ($86.9 million), the sale of bonds ($80 million) and state loans for water infrastructure upgrades ($49 million).

The district, which has legal responsibilities for flood control, is in the early stages of a massive upgrade to the Kinnickinnic on the city’s south side to remove miles of concrete lining and widen the river.

In all, district officials envision spending $390 million to improve the urbanized river, including widening between flood-prone South 6th and South 16th streets. In 2020, spending in the Kinnickinnic watershed is expected to total $6.2 million.

Also planned is spending $2.7 million to remove polychlorinated biphenyls — PCBs — that are coating sewers west of the Milwaukee River along North Humboldt Avenue between East Capitol Drive and East Locust Avenue.

According to MMSD, a 2008 investigation found that the former Milwaukee Die Cast Co., 4132 N. Holton St., was the primary source of the PCBs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has removed the PCBs from the business site.

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